Power Rankings: Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Editor's note: Vartan Kupelian is the Champions Tour Insider and a PGATOUR.COM Contributor. Each week, Kupelian will size up the field and provide his top five players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

John Cook is the defending champion of this week's Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the final event of the 2010 Champions Tour season.

Cook coasted to a five-shot victory to finish 2009 in style. He shot a final round 69 for a 22-under total 266 at Sonoma Golf Club. The venue switches this year to San Francisco's venerable Harding Park Golf Course.

The AT&T Championship provided no late changes in the makeup of the top 30 eligible for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Nobody fell out and nobody moved up into the top 30. The only changes were within that group.

In the season's final event, Bernhard Langer controls his destiny. Langer earned 47 points for his T9 finish at the AT&T Championship and leads the Charles Schwab Cup points list with 3,207 points. That's a 582-point margin over Fred Couples, who will have to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to have a chance to catch Langer and win the bonus $1 million annuity. A five-time winner this year, Langer can finish in a two-way tie for fourth or better to clinch the Cup.

Power Rankings: Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Rank Player   Comment Bernhard LANGER He has piled up a substantial lead in the Charles Schwab Cup points list with five victories, including back-to-back major titles at the Senior British and Senior U.S. Open. Points total: 3,207. Fred COUPLES Four victories on the season, one less than Langer, and his victory in Houston two weeks ago put him within reach of the season-long bonus. Is rested and ready. Points total: 2,625. Russ COCHRAN The lefthander won successive titles in Songdo City, Korea, and the SAS Championship in North Carolina. Also No. 3 on the money list with $1.64 million. Points total: 1,590. John COOK Narrowly missed at the AT&T Championship (T3) where he was looking for a third victory in four years. Again surging late in the season and ready to defend. 1,571. Fred FUNK Only victory this year came in a major, the JELD-WEN Tradition. T2 in Charles Schwab Cup Championship in '07. Points total: 1,555.

This week's Champions Tour Power Rankings for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship: